Back on air: ​CNN gets broadcast license in Russia after 3-month hiatus

CNN international has received a broadcast license in Russia, media watchdog Roskomnadzor confirmed. The channel stopped broadcasting at the end of 2014 after changes to Russian legislation.

“On March 23, we
received a license from Roskomnadzor to broadcast [in Russia] for
up to 10 years,” a source in the US company told
Izvestia newspaper.

Roskomnadzor head Aleksandr Zharov confirmed that the watchdog
gave a broadcast license to CNN.

“I welcome the fact that CNN clearly follow the agreements
reached in the negotiations, and I believe that it [the channel]
will also be accurate and flawless in its content policy,”
he told the paper.

CNN stopped broadcasting in Russia on December 31, 2014, after
changes to Russian legislation regulating the operation of mass
media. In particular, a ban on advertisements on pay television
came in force from January 1, 2015.

"Turner International is exploring options for the
distribution of CNN in Russia in the light of recent amendments
in Russian legislation concerning mass media,” a
representative from Turner Broadcasting System Europe said in
November.

“Amid this process, we are ending our current broadcasting
agreements. We hope to return to the Russian market and will keep
partners informed about our plans.”

Roskomnadzor then denied it had anything to do with CNN
International’s plans to stop broadcasting in Russia.

“CNN shareholders should be asked about the reasons behind
the stoppage of broadcast,” a Roskomnadzor representative
Vadim Ampelonsky said. The news agency also cited a source
familiar with the business of the news network in Russia saying
that the reasons for pulling out were commercial.

Back in February the channel submitted an application to
Roskomnadzor for obtaining a universal broadcasting license and
re-registration.

Cable News Network (CNN) was created in the United States in 1980
by Ted Turner and was the first channel to begin broadcasting
24/7. CNN International was launched in 1985 and following the
collapse of the Soviet Union began broadcasting in Russia at the
beginning of the 1990s.